MY TRIBUTE on the First Bishop in my knowledge –The Most Revd Amos Abiodun Omodunbi
I will deviate from the norms. My question to every reader of the deeds of this man is how the knowledge you had of him has impacted your life?. From Lagos to Kaduna, from Sokoto to Port-Harcourt from Oyo to Adamawa and from Akure to Enugu, the talks were much. He produced so many leaders in the church of God and in the secular clime to the extent that the conventional counter continues to have difficulty in aggregating correct figures of those he had ‘made’’. We said so many positive things about his deeds. But alas!!!. Are we living these deeds?
A combination of personal views as well as an adaptation of the views of a prolific writer on his life and times, claimed that, His Grace, Most Revd Amos Abiodun Omodunbi had legions of mentees in the ministry of the gospel and in the secular clime. Most of the ‘tops’ in the Methodist Church Nigeria today and in the Anglican Communion are his ‘boys’ or ‘boys of his ‘boys’. Not only this, he was acclaimed to be a loving mentor; a sincere counsellor; a teacher of teachers, a beloved of his students; a pedantic pedagogue; a farsighted, shrewd, deep-in-thought philosopher; a social mobilizer; a resourceful realist, a responsible quick-witted, visionary, devoted, dedicated clergyman and a sound, agile, disciplined sportsman and good family man of all seasons. Please if you are one of the wailers or mourners or celebrants here today, and none of these virtues have impacted your life or none could be seen in you, your celebration at the side of his grace casket is a mere eye service.
Papa, the opportunity you granted me from January 11, 2003 to September 20, 2003 which afforded me the opportune opportunity to hear it all from you, which guided my being able to document your biography, will remain evergreen in my memory. Rest in peace
Omooba Adegoke Dire Arimoro